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The Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts

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    The Bible Doctrine on Inspiration

    The Holy Scriptures nowhere claim to be verbally inspired—and surely the translations cannot pretend to that distinction of divine perfection. The term “plenary inspiration” too, is not found in the Bible. The word inspiration in the Bible means literally “God breathed.” The thought is from God direct and complete, but the words are from man. “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me” (2 Samuel 23:2), that is, by the personality of David, not by another. “Holy men ... spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21), that is, there is a union of the human and the divine; it is the Spirit of God that moves or inspires, but it is the men who speak.FSG 134.2

    As Adventists have taught the doctrine of inspiration, we have stressed the following points:FSG 135.1

    1. We cannot believe in the personality of God and not believe in the possibility of a divine revelation.FSG 135.2

    2. We cannot believe in the moral government and personal purpose of God and not believe in the probability of a revelation.FSG 135.3

    3. We cannot believe in the Fatherhood of God and not believe in the certainty of a revelation.FSG 135.4

    4. We cannot sense the confusion and blindness of mankind and not sense the need of a revelation.FSG 135.5

    5. Such a revelation must set forth in terms men can understand—FSG 135.6

    a. The character and purpose of God as related to man.FSG 135.7

    b. The duties we owe to God and each other. A clear standard of right and wrong.FSG 135.8

    c. The truth concerning a life hereafter.FSG 135.9

    d. A remedy for sin and the way to peace.FSG 135.10

    The messenger of the Lord did more than state her confidence in the validity of the Bible she gave a clear presentation of the true principles of inspiration. It is the best we have seen on that subject, and our members and ministers do well to ponder her words. During the never-to-be-forgot ten Minneapolis General Conference session, in which clearer light on righteousness by faith brought such a marvelous revival to the remnant church, Mrs. White wrote as follows concerning the inspiration of the Scriptures:FSG 135.11

    “This is a time when the question with all propriety may be asked, ‘When the Son of man cometh shall He find faith on the earth?’FSG 136.1

    “Spiritual darkness has covered the earth and gross darkness the people. There are in many churches skepticism and infidelity in the interpretation of the Scriptures. Many, very many are questioning the verity and truth of the Scriptures. Human reasoning and the imaginings of the human heart are undermining the inspiration of the Word of God, and that which should be received as granted, is surrounded with a cloud of mysticism. Nothing stands out in clear and distinct lines, upon rock bottom. This is one of the marked signs of the last days.FSG 136.2

    “This Holy Book has withstood the assaults of Satan, who has united with evil men to make everything of divine character shrouded in clouds and darkness. But the Lord has preserved this Holy Book by His own miraculous power in its present shape—a chart or guidebook to the human family to show them the way to heaven.FSG 136.3

    “But the oracles of God have been so manifestly neglected that there are but few in our world, even of those who profess to explain it to others, who have the divine knowledge of the Scriptures. There are learned men who have a college education, but these shepherds do not feed the flock of God. They do not consider that the excellencies of the Scriptures will be continually unfolding their hidden treasures as precious jewels are discovered by digging for them.FSG 136.4

    “There are men who strive to be original, who are wise above what is written, therefore their wisdom is foolishness. They discover wonderful things in advance, ideas which reveal that they are far behind in the comprehension of the divine will and purposes of God. In seeking to make plain, or to unravel mysteries hid from ages from mortal man, they are like a man floundering about in the mud, unable to extricate himself, and yet telling others how to get out of the muddy sea they themselves are in. This is a fit representation of the men who set themselves to correct the errors of the Bible. No man can improve the Bible by suggesting what the Lord meant to say or ought to have said.FSG 136.5

    “Some look to us gravely and say, ‘Don’t you think there might have been some mistake in the copyist or in the translators?’ This is all probable, and the mind that is so narrow that it will hesitate and stumble over this possibility or probability would be just as ready to stumble over the mysteries of the inspired Word, because their feeble minds cannot see through the purposes of God. Yes, they would just as easily stumble over plain facts tha7t the common mind will accept, and discern the Divine, and to which God’s utterance is plain and beautiful, full of marrow and fatness. All the mistakes will not cause trouble to one soul, or cause any feet to stumble, that would not manufacture difficulties from the plainest revealed truth.FSG 136.6

    “God committed the preparation of His divinely inspired Word to finite man. This Word arranged into books, the Old and New Testaments, is the guide-book to the inhabitants of a fallen world; bequeathed to them, that by studying and obeying the directions, not one soul would lose its way to heaven.FSG 137.1

    “Those who think to make the supposed difficulties of Scripture plain, in measuring by their finite rule that which is inspired and that which is not inspired, had better cover their faces, as Elijah when the still small voice spoke to him; for they are in the presence of God and holy angels, who for ages have communicated to men light and knowledge, telling them what to do, and what not to do, unfolding before them the scenes of thrilling interest, way mark by way mark in symbols and signs and illustrations.FSG 137.2

    “And He has not, while presenting the perils clustering about the last days, qualified any finite man to unravel hidden mysteries, or inspired one man or any class of men to pronounce judgment as to what is inspired or not. When men, in their finite judgment, find it necessary to go into an examination of Scriptures to define that which is inspired and that which is not, they have stepped before Jesus to show Him a better way than He has led us.FSG 137.3

    “I take the Bible just as it is, as the inspired Word. I believe its utterances in an entire Bible....FSG 137.4

    “Brethren, let not a mind or hand be engaged in criticizing the Bible. It is a work that Satan delights to have any of you do, but it is not a work the Lord has pointed out for you to do....FSG 137.5

    “Brethren, cling to your Bible, as it reads, and stop your criticisms in regard to its validity, and obey the Word, and not one of you will be lost.”—E. G. White, MS. 16, written at Minneapolis, Minn., 1888.FSG 137.6

    In May that same year, 1888, while at Healdsburg, California, Mrs. White in preparing a preface to her outstanding book The Great Controversy had this to say about the Bible:FSG 137.7

    “During the first twenty-five hundred years of human history, there was no written revelation. Those who had been taught of God, communicated their knowledge to others, and it was handed down from father to son, through successive generations. The preparation of the written word began in the time of Moses. Inspired revelations were then embodied in an inspired book. This work continued during the long period of sixteen hundred years—from Moses, the historian of creation and the law, to John, the recorder of the most sublime truths of the gospel.FSG 138.1

    “The Bible points to God as its Author; yet it was written by human hands; and in the varied style of its different books it presents the characteristics of the several writers. The truths revealed are all ‘given by inspiration of God’ (2 Timothy 3:16); yet they are expressed in the words of men. The Infinite One by His Holy Spirit has shed light into the minds and hearts of His servants. He has given dreams and visions, symbols and figures; and those to whom the truth was thus revealed, have themselves embodied the thought in human language.FSG 138.2

    “The ten commandments were spoken by God Himself, and were written by His own hand. They are of divine, and not of human composition. But the Bible, with its God-given truths expressed in the language of men, presents a union of the divine and the human Such a union existed in the nature of Christ, who was the Son of God and the Son of man. Thus it is true of the Bible, as it was of Christ, that ‘the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.’ John 1:14.FSG 138.3

    “Written in different ages, by men who differed widely in rank and occupation, and in mental and spiritual endowments, the books of the Bible present a wide contrast in style, as well as a diversity in the nature of the subjects unfolded. Different forms of expression are employed by different writers; often the same truth is more strikingly presented by one than by another. And as several writers present a subject under varied aspects and relations, there may appear, to the superficial, careless, or prejudiced reader, to be discrepancy or contradiction, where the thoughtful, reverent student, with clearer insight, discerns the underlying harmony....FSG 138.4

    “God has been pleased to communicate His truth to the world by human agencies, and He Himself, by His Holy Spirit, qualified men and enabled them to do this work. He guided the mind in the selection of what to speak and what to write. The treasure was entrusted to earthen vessels, yet it is, none the less, from Heaven. The testimony is conveyed through the imperfect expression of human language, yet it is the testimony of God; and the obedient, believing child of God beholds in it the glory of a divine power, full of grace and truth.FSG 138.5

    “In His word, God has committed to men the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative, infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the revealer of doctrines, and the test of experience.”—The Great Controversy, Introduction, v-vii.FSG 139.1

    During the nearly two years that Mrs. White spent in Europe she had many revelations from the Lord. All her sermons and messages had to be translated. Europe is full of skepticism. Many objections to the Bible unknown in America came to her there. Many queries, too, concerning her inspiration came up for discussion. While there in 1886, she wrote about the true understanding of inspiration both of the Bible and of her own messages. In an article entitled “Objections to the Bible” she states:FSG 139.2

    “Human minds vary. The minds of different education and thought receive different impressions of the same words, and it is difficult for one mind to give to one of a different temperament, education, and habits of thought by language exactly the same idea as that which is clear and distinct in his own mind. Yet to honest men, right minded men, he can be so simple and plain as to convey his meaning for all practical purposes. If the man he communicates with is not honest and will not want to see and understand the truth, he will turn his words and language in everything to suit his own purposes. He will misconstrue his words, play upon his imagination, wrest them from their true meaning, and then entrench himself in unbelief, claiming that the sentiments are all wrong.FSG 139.3

    “This is the way my writings are treated by those who wish to misunderstand and pervert them. They turn the truth of God into a lie. In the very same way that they treat the writings in my published articles and in my books, so do skeptics and infidels treat the Bible. They read it according to their desire to pervert, to misapply, to willfully wrest the utterances from their true meaning. They declare that the Bible can prove anything and everything, that every sect proves their doctrines right, and that the most diverse doctrines are proven from the Bible.FSG 139.4

    “The writers of the Bible had to express their ideas in human language. It was written by human men. These men were inspired of the Holy Spirit. Because of the imperfections of human understanding of language, or the perversity of the human mind, ingenious in evading truth, many read and understand the Bible to please themselves. It is not that the difficulty is in the Bible. Opposing politicians argue points of law in the statute book, and take opposite views in their application and in these laws.”—E. G. White, MS. 24, written in Europe in 1886.FSG 140.1

    The servant of God taught that her messages were given by revelation, but she never claimed verbal inspiration. In other words, her position was that the truth was from the Lord but was expressed in her human words and style. On June 14, 1906, she wrote a letter of reply to a brother who had taken an extreme view of this matter. He had written: “I was led to conclude and most firmly believe that EVERY word you ever spoke in public or private, that every letter you ever wrote under ANY and ALL circumstances was as inspired as the ten commandments.”FSG 140.2

    In reply to this inquiry the Lord’s messenger replied:FSG 140.3

    “My brother, you have studied my writings diligently, and you have never found that I have made any such claims. Neither will you find that the pioneers in our cause have made such claims.... The Bible points to God as its Author; yet it was written by human hands; and in the varied style of its different books it presents the characteristics of the several writers.”—The Review and Herald, August 30, 1906, page 8.FSG 140.4

    Anyone who has looked up the many marginal notes in our King James Version and studied their history and the reason for having them in the Bible will know that it is not possible to believe that our English Bible is verbally inspired, and he will also know that though we have no verbally inspired Word of God we have a very exact and dependable record of what the Lord gave us as an inspired message. We have quoted so fully from these divine messages on this topic because we believe that “skepticism has been aroused in many minds by the theories presented as to the nature of inspiration.”—Testimonies for the Church 5:709. We are told that “none but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.”—The Great Controversy, 593. The fact that the remnant church in the midst of an overwhelming flood of unbelief has clung to the Bible reveals as few things do the blessed fruitage of the Spirit of prophecy. There will be no chance or happenstance about our salvation. The conditions are clear. Only those who know and heed the voice of the true Shepherd will find their way through. The Bible and the Testimonies speak with the same voice. Read this from Testimonies for the Church 5:661:FSG 140.5

    “In ancient times God spoke to men by the mouth of prophets and apostles. In these days He speaks to them by the Testimonies of His Spirit. There was never a time when God instructed His people more earnestly than He instructs them now concerning His will, and the course that He would have them pursue.”FSG 141.1

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